Boston to New York City Sites-- Doable in a day?
 

This is probably the craziest question I have ever asked anybody on here, but here goes.

How many sites can one take in in New York City (Ground Zero, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc.) in a day if one left really early in the morning (say 3 a.m. or even 2 a.m.) from Boston?

I know this sounds crazy to a lot of you, but we may never make it back to that part of the US and want to know what's doable and what isn't.

Any tips on doing something like this would be appreciated.

Thanks

This question is like asking, "How many rocks will fit into a grocery bag?" In the same way that my question depends on "How big are the rocks?", your question depends on, "What do consider 'taking in' a site?"

You could probably arrive in Manhattan by mid-morning, and "see" about a half dozen sites -- if by "seeing" you mean casting your eyes on them. I wouldn't recommend that, but I presume you already know that's not the way to visit ANY city, let alone New York.

Since you're bound and determined to do this anyway, I can only recommend that you take the Acela from Boston to NY, then buy a Metro Pass as soon as you get there. Ride the subway between the following (NOT in this order):
1) Times Square
2) Rockefeller Center
3) a view of the Empire State Building
4) Macy's
5) Ground Zero
6) outside the NYSE
7) Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty
8) Central Park

Then you can claim you've "seen" all of these sites, even if you really haven't "taken them in."

Or since you'll be exhausted by noon, I highly suggest the All Loop Tour by Grayline. That way you can literally see everything.

I assume you are driving b/c of your previous posts about your vacation in Boston but driving in daily from Danvers - and I also think you stated you dislike public transportation - so this means you want to drive.

If you left Danvers at 4am, you would likely make NY around 9am or so

You are leaving Danvers and want to be through Boston before morning commuter traffic, and also before you would hit commuter traffic in Providence and in CT where it can really get backed up heading into the city -
so you want to be beyond that by 8 or 9am or stop for breakfast and let the commuters go in and then
get right in behind them around 9:30 ish.

I would not want to do that drive, not knowing where I am, from Danvers, beginning at 2 or 3am -

won't you be exhausted from a long day of sightseeing in Boston?

once you get to NYC, to see anythin in say one day (and then turning around and driving another 4-5 hours back???) I'd shoot myself, personally , before I'd do that.

In my opinion, the only way to see anything worthy in NYC is to take a tour or to use public transportation like the Subway and you have made it clear you have an intense dislike of any public transportation in your other post......

So I would suggest instead you take one of those day tours that leaves from Boston, let a bus driver do the driving so at least you can sleep.

I think this is a grueling proposition.

I'd rather see you extend your vacation by at least 2 days - or take 2 from Boston - and at least spend the night in NYC or leave it for another time.

Can you afford to fly in? on say a 7am shuttle from Logan and return around 7pm?

Just rmeember you are also talking MARCH and you will need to watch the weather also

Add the cost of gas and parking in NYC and I also think fly or take the train, but again, you keep saying in your other post you do not like to take the train, bus, subway, any public transportation so if you are willing to change your mind, that is another thing. Business people, take the Acela in and out of NYC in a day all the time.
it's faster than the regional, but you'll pay for that too.

There is also the Limoliner that goes from Hilton to Hilton and I think is still around 79 for the pleasure, but again, it is at the mercy of traffic and takes at least 4 hrs and leaves from BOston, meaning you have to drive from Danvers to Boston, pay to park for the day and get there early enough to miss driving in rush hour with everyone else, which if rush hour is bad, means you could miss your bus.

It is tempting when visitng a part of the world one has limited opportunity to visit again to see it as a check list - put a check next to a site and move on. Posts about WDW here seem to do that all the time.

My idea of a trip is to see and experience things - not just drive by. But it is your trip and you can do obviously do whatever you want.

I have friends who have taken purpose-specific charter buses to NYC from Boston (such as a theatre trip) as a one-day trip. Difference is that someone else drives, bus drops off and picks up right at door.

In your other Boston post you mentioned staying well outside Boston to save money - so I imagine that taking Acela is not going to be an option for you. Driving the northeast corridor (Boston-NYC-DC) is always subject to delays - traffic, weather, accidents. It can take just over 4 hours if you really go at 2 AM - but then what do you do in NYC at 6 AM? Most of the standard tourist sites are not even open.

The drive home, unless you plan on making it a 24-hour day and leave NYC late at night will take longer - 5-6 hours. This sounds unsafe to me as the returning driver will have been awake for way too long.

Why not cut your Boston trip short by a day or 2 and then head to NYC.

I think it's great that you're going to try to get a flavor of the East Coast. It's clear you haven't been out there before, because you don't quite seem to have a good grasp of how densely populated it is along certain corridors and around the big cities, nor that -- like Europe -- public transportation is a primary way people get around.

Driving actually INTO NYC is nuts, as everyone is telling you. However, I've been known to do the day-trip or 1 1/2 day trip because I love NY but can't usually afford to stay there. From Boston, I'd get up early -- not as early as 3 am, though -- and take any train.

But, you ask, won't I have a hassle getting into Boston to get to the train? Nah, I say, you drive around I-95 (128) south to the Westwood - 128 station (just off the highway exit near Dedham), where you can leave your car.

Trains run about every hour, take 3- 4 hrs. to Penn Station -- you can't possibly do that by car. If you make the 6:29 am train, you're there before 10 am. You can sleep, read a Fodors guide, or watch the coastline (the rail line along the CT. shore gives a view you can't get in a car).

The "regional service" (takes 4 hrs., premium Acela takes 3 hrs.) will cost about $302 for two adults with AAA discount, although there are other senior and corporate and military discounts -- but think what gas and parking (and wear and tear on the car) would cost you!

If I'd never been to NYC and had only 8 hours there? Circle Line bus tour,Empire State Building, a walk through Central Park and, at sunset, Staten Island ferry (round-trip for view of lower Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty -- wear warm clothing).

Hope this helps.

My husband and I just took Greyhound/Peter Pan bus from South Station Boston to New York (we stayed three nights). It is a great way to get into New York. We bought e-tickets and it was $30 each round trip. The last late night/early morning trip seems to leave Boston at 2:30 a.m., arriving in New York at 6:50 a.m., or else leave Boston at 6:30 a.m. and arrive in New York at 11:00 a.m. You can then leave New York at 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. and arrive in Boston around 3:00 a.m. That will depend on where you park your car in Boston. I don't know how early/late the T would run. The bus was a great way to travel. We were on time both ways. It's so much cheaper than the train and about the same time (Acela is faster but $$$$). As far as sites, there is just so much to do in New York. Try to find a way to stay over at least one night in New York. It is well worth it.

Sorry, but the only practical way to do this is by public transportation. It is one of those things that looks doable on a map, and while only a seasoned city driver would drive in Manhattan, I get the sense that you are one. The real hang-up is that if you get unlucky, no matter how early you leave Massachusetts, or how late you leave Manhattan, the traffic could easily eat up your ENTIRE touring time. Snow in March is not uncommon in the Northeast, and will snarl the roads, but more importantly, you are driving through what is essentially one large, extremely congested metro area. It thins out only in the middle of Connecticut, and there is no way to time the drive to avoid rush hours. This is a route that most people take Amtrak for, and it is simple, reasonably clean, usually runs on time in the Northeast, and serves a broad demographic, not just those too poor too afford cars. You are dependent on their schedule, but that is better than spending 5 hours sitting on the Cross-Bronx, which has happened to us. Another option would be to leave Danvers in the evening, drive to New Jersey, stay in a motel there, and early the next morning (say around 5), drive into Manhattan. That's probably the only way to do it by car.

Yeah, take a train (not the same as "Take the A Train," even if Lawrence Welk thought it was!).

Just for the heckuvit I did some calculations:

Distance Danvers to Manhattan round-trip (without getting lost) is approx. 460 miles.

Gas at 20 MPG/$3.oo/gallon = $69

Parking at $40/day (moderate, can be much more) = $40.

Wear and tear acc/IRS figures of 35 cents/mile = $161.

So that total would be $270.

If you replace "wear and tear" with cost per day of rental car, it goes down quite a bit, of course.

However, if it's truly "once in a lifetime," I'd agree with pretty much everyone who urges you to take the train -- consider it part of the East Coast experience. It is a nice ride, fwiw!

Driving MIGHT be feasible if you travel on a weekend and have nice weather. But I do second the recommendation to take the train or bus instead.

PS to my post -- sit on the left side of the train going down, on the right going home -- for the view.

Haven't had a chance to read all of your posts. Thanks for posting. I will read them this afternoon when I actually have time after working all night and day.

Keep on bringing them. I love reading them and learn a lot of things from them.

Just glancing at one of the posts, it seems like a far-fetched idea to do this. I knew it wouldn't be easy.

I will post more later.

Thanks again.

Not far-fetched. People do it every day, although the day-trip version isn't so common -- usually for an overnight. Bottom line: is it worth a 4-hr. trip each way plus about $300 to do it? I say yes.

As noted above, you can get tickets for Greyhound for $30 - $50 pp RT. That's cheaper than gas and parking if you drive! In March you might even be able to get a bargain on a hotel rate and stay over one night.

To do that as a drive is just nuts - you will spend hours and hours on the road (hitting rush hour in at least New York - and possibly other places) and stand a good chance of crashing from falling asleep on the way home.

Don;t know how early the first train leaves Boston - but I would do that - and then take the last train back. That way you will at least have the energy to do something while in New York. (I suggest the train versus other options since in March it has the least chance of weather delays.)

If you prefer to fly there are shuttles leaving Logan starting at 6 am - and you will land by 7 and be in the city by about 8am. But - I don;t think the shuttle at night fly past 10pm to so.

I don't think you can get the Acela or even the regional train that early in the morning.

As I suspected, a quick check of the Amtrak site shows that this itinerary isn't really doable via train. The earliest train you can get from Boston is 5:15 Acela arriving around 8:45. Unless you want to leave NY at 3 am, you will have to leave fairly early -- say 5 or 6 pm. I dunno, is that worth it to you?

lisettemac, how are you thinking the day will go? Why would he leave NYC at 3 am? Or 3 pm if that's what you're thinking?

It would be perfectly civilized to leave Boston (or RTE = Westwood Rte 128) early morning and arrive before lunch. And then:

There are trains leaving NYC for Boston all afternoon and early evening. A 7:00PM Acela gets into RTE at a very civilized 10:20, and there's a regional at 7:30 that gets in at 11:34. This leaves at least 8 hrs. in NYC. Why isn't this feasible?

You guys have given me a lot of good responses. It seems the best way would be by bus or train to get there, which makes perfectly good sense. Not even I would like to drive in NYC traffic, and I've driven in some pretty hairy and scary places.

I couldn't find where the Greyhound was only $30-50 though. It said it was like $90-plus per person.

We found this great sightseeing outfit that costs $67 PP for a city-wide tour that takes 2 1/2 hours and includes ferry to the Statue of Liberty and a ticket to the Observation Deck at Empire State Building.

I never found any tours that spelled out Ground Zero. I know it's close to the Empire State Building, but how much of a walk is it?

Like I said before, and another poster pointed it out, that we are the ultimate tourists. We want to see the major attractions, then, if time allows, do some other things.

See if this sounds like a good plan: Leave as early as possible on the train, get to Manhattan early. Catch the 8 a.m. bus tour (including ESB and S of L), spend rest of time (daylight anyway) walking around to different sites until the train takes us back to Boston. Or, we could, perhaps, stay a night in the city. But our budget is going to be stretched as it is. Any idea for a budget-friendly hotel/motel in Manhattan for one night.

Keep the posts coming. I learn from them every time I read one. Any other suggestions will be heeded. You guys know a lot about the East Coast.

Thanks

The traffic is pretty much solidly HORRIBLE the entire way from Boston to NYC.

I think you can see some stuff in one day in NYC - enough to whet your appetite - but to drive that is absurd. Take the train.

Empire State Building to Ground Zero is 3.2 miles - it's a hike.

magnumholmes, there's no way you can get to nyc by train or bus to make an 8 am tour-- unless you come the night before.
Ground zero is not far from the ferry to the statue of liberty, but not close at all to the Empire State Building (it's a couple of miles away, about a 20 minute of subway ride plus walk)
That 2 1/2 hour tour makes no sense either, unless its a 2 1/2 hour tour plus separate time for the statue of liberty and Empire state building. A ferry to and from the statue plus minimal time there could easily be the whole 2 1/2 hours!

The 2.5 tour definitely doesn't show you much if it includes going to the Statue of Liberty. Maybe it includes a view of the Statue from Manhattan. You may also want to see if there is anything worthwhile seeing at Ground Zero anymore. I believe its just your typical construction site for right now but I could be completely wrong. Couple of years ago, I went to NYC from Hartford and had just a day to see everything. Looking back there is so much I have missed, I want to go back but haven't found the time. Biggest piece of advice I have is don't try to rush the sites, you won't remember much except for the checklist. The biggest memories I have of trips are the surprises you don't expect in going to a new city.

If I were, say, under 20 I'd probably give this trip a shot. LOL

The Greyhound discount is for nonrefundable e-fares, currently showing $38 RT for Boston/NYC.:

http://www.greyhound.com/home/en/Dea...s/eSavers.aspx

The problem is not driving in NYC - which is perfectly manageable if you're used to city driving - it's spending 10 hours in the car - driving from Boston to NYC and back in one day (including rush hours) - and then trying to see anything during the day - and then driving home - and keeping awake - into the wee hours. (There's little point in doing the whole drive just to spend 4/5 hours in the city.)

With the train you can catch up on sleep on the ride either way - and at least be awake for the 10/11 hours you do have in NYC.

Buses allow you to sit back and not drive and they are cheaper, but they can't go any faster in bad traffic than a driver can. If time is an issue (and it is here), it's the train you want.

I just noticed from the other thread that this trip is taking place in March. Weather might still affect traveling between Boston and NYC.

If you decide to do this, perhaps you should take the bus the evening before. Leave Boston 6-7 pm, arrive in NYC 10-11 pm.

You would just need the simplest hotel for a few hours sleep . . . dare I mention the Milford Plaza, with its lower prices and close proximity to the PA Bus Terminal? A quick check at their web site showed $189 for my sample date of March 10. You could probably do better there or elsewhere with a little searching.

Then you could wake up refreshed, take the early tour you mentioned if it still interests you, spend the rest of the day running around town, and get a later bus back to Boston.

The Greyhound seems to be the way to go. I found one that leaves at 2:15 a.m. and arrives at 8:55 a.m. The last one leaves NYC at 10:30 p.m. The cheapest fare, right now for the date we have listed to go, is $59 R/T PP.

Does this seem to be like the decent, and most economical thing to do to everyone?

No, the 2 1/2 hours of a city tour does not include either the Statue of Liberty or the Observation Deck at the Empire State Building. Those, as I understand it, are basically on your own, just make sure you make a returning bus-- kind of like a hop-on-hop-off thing.

So my expenses then are: $118 for the bus and $134 for the tour in the city. That doesn't look too bad. It would be a full day, though.

The only thing we have to navigate now is the drop-off point of the Greyhound and getting to the starting point for the bus tour. Anybody have a clue how to do that?

I will look up where the drop-off point of the bus is and the starting point of the tour now.

Greyhound goes to the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 40th St and 8th Ave in midtown.

I'm not sure that I would choose to take the tour you suggest--with so little time I rather not be a hostage to someone else's schedule. I can understand if you feel differently, that it would be an effective use of your time.

Here is the bus tour inside NYC.

CitySightsNY
Broadway between 46th & 47th Streets
8th Avenue between 49th & 50th Streets
www.citysightsny.com

Hop-on, hop-off double-decker tours of NYC. New buses with top-deck seating only for great views of major attractions, neighborhoods, points of interest.

The bus arrives in NYC, I guess, at New York, New York

Address
PORT AUTHORITY
625 8TH AVE

Any suggestions on how to get from Point A to Point B? What's the best way?

You guys have been great on this unmatched undertaking in our travelling past.

Thanks again for all of the posts.

Please let us know who is on a Greyhound bus at 2:15 AM - I am sure it is safe, just curious. It has been years since I traveled that way.

I might also mention to Danvers hotel that you will not be there for 24 hours so they do not think you have disappeared.

One thing you forgot to factor in for expenses and logistics - getting to/from Greyhound in Boston. No public transportation at 2 AM

Another option would be to drive part way to NYC the night before and get a hotel someplace along 95, which would be cheaper than NYC and then drive in early the next morning. This way you get a better night sleep. Even look towards New Haven, CT and take an early train into the city.

Point A to Point B

Follow the signage inside the bus terminal to exit onto 8th Avenue (bet 40th and 42nd). Turn left (north) on 8th Avenue and walk to 49th St. Should take about 8-10 minutes.

If you choose to try the other option mentioned--driving to New Haven and taking the train from there--be sure to check the MetroNorth commuter rail schedules as well as Amtrak. Both train system stop at New Haven.

Forgive me, but all this reminds me of one trip I took with a beloved but batty brother of mine who gets so into the how-to-get-there that he loved making it ever more complicated, just because he could.

The more outrageous the itinerary -- with lots of stops, lots of tricky arrangements, lots of hair's-breadth connections, lots of special-deal cheapie deals -- the more excited he got. Getting up in the middle of the night and racing breathlessly across town to see something that we didn't really care about in the first place, just to prove he could and didn't need a taxi to do it -- it all only made it a better trip for him.

I wonder if he remembers anything about that trip other than his "marvelous" management of the logistics.

tchoiniere has a good idea.

Don't forget Magnum, that you might already be worn out a bit from your visits to Boston and this could be much more difficult/tiring (esp. if you plan to drive) than it would be if you were doing such a trip while not on vacation.

Taking the bus would leave me only an 8- to 10-minute walk to where the bus tour starts? That's it?

If you're sure ellenem, and I have no real reason to doubt you, then this sounds like the only way to go.

I guess having a really good street map of New York City would be a plus, right?

Here are some things you could do in a day. (I used to do exactly this when I was wayyyy younger, and have done this with guests.)

1. Morning. Walk through the south part of Central Park. Stroll down 5th avenue for a while. Look around the Times Square area.

4. Late morning. Bus or cab to Empire State building. If it is a too-long wait in line, you can see the lobby, which is impressive. I think it is worth the wait, though. Eat lunch in this area.

5. Early afternoon. Bus or cab to the WTC Ground Zero site. Walk to Battery Park, look at the Statue. Take the Liberty ferry, but don't get off at the Statue Island, stay on it and visit Ellis Island museum.

6. Late afternoon. Stroll around Chinatown; Dinner in Chinatown, or if you have a bus/train to catch, head back to the theater district and have dinner while people-watching.

7. Evening. Head home.

magnum,

Please get a map so all of your plans begin to make some sense. For such a day as you have planned, knowing the geography of the city will make things go much more smoothly.

The walk from bus terminal to bus stop is perhaps the most basic of NY walks--on one avenue in one direction from about 41st St to 49th St. It takes about a minute to walk one block of this type. The only snafu would be if you didn't come out of the bus terminal on 8th Ave--just follow the signs and you should be fine.

You listed these bus stops:
CitySightsNY
Broadway between 46th & 47th Streets
8th Avenue between 49th & 50th Streets

The Broadway one might be slightly closer, but not much because when you walk between avenues the distance is longer, plus it might be slightly more confusing.

Your tour includes 24 hours of hop-on/hop-off a route that takes 2.5 hours; Statue of Liberty ferry ticket; Top of the Rock or Empire State Building ticket. Personally I would choose Top of the Rock, since it gives you a great view of the Empire State Building and is much quicker to do with your limited time.